Women’s Empowerment through Self-help Groups and its Impact on Health Issues: Empirical Evidence

Based on an empirical study in West Bengal, this paper attempts toexamine whether women’s involvement in the microcredit programmethrough SHGs makes any positive change on women’s empowerment.From the assessment of various criteria of empowerment(power,autonomy and self-reliance, entitlement, participation and awarenessand capacity-building), the study suggests that if women participatingin the microcredit programme through SHGs sustain for some longerperiod (eight years or more), such programme might contribute tohigher level of women’s empowerment than women’s empowermentunder all types of control group. This paper also finds that women’searnings from saving and credit have positive and significant effect onnutritional status of the children of women members of SHGs and onthe protein-intake for their household compared with that of amongcontrol groups.